Antoine soursin



N, PETERS, FHOTO-LITHOGRAFHER. WASHINGTON. D Cy uit@ `tetes stut @ffice ANTNOINE `so UnsiN, or sfr. y Louis, MISSOURI. Letters Patent No. 66,747, dated July 16, 186i.

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TO ALL WHOM `ITV MAY CONOERN:

Be itl known that I, ANTOINE SOURSIN, et'l the -city and county of St. Louis, and State of Missouri, have invented a new and useful Machine for Adjusting Carriage-Top Bows; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full and clear description thereof, reference boing had to the accompanying'drawings, and to thc letters of reference marked thereon.

The nature of this invention consists in thc employment ot' an adjustable frame, erected temporarily upon theseat of the vehicle to which the hoops are to be attached, the top of the said frame being fitted to the contour of the prospective top, and made adjustable laterally, longitudinally, or diagonally', by means of certain,

screws and other devices, hereinafter more fully explained, thus enabling the artisan employed in placing the hoops or bows upon the vehicle to evenly balance the same upon both' sides of the top, and thereby secure a top of much greater symmetry and beauty than it was possible to produce by the old method, lwhen the eye alone was to judge which of the two sides overhung the most. And, in addition to this ve'ry valuable improvement, therefis another, in this, that thc time occupied in adjusting the'top by this method is less than one quarter employed by the old method.

To enable those skilled in the art to' make and use my improved top-adjusting machine, I will proceed to describe its construction and operation.

Figure 1 of the accompanying drawings is a sectional eleva-tion of the adjusting machine, and also of 'ai carriage-seat to which it is attached.

Figure 2 is a front elevation ofthe same.

Figure 3 is a side elevation of the top and a portion of the adjusting apparatus.

Figure 4 is a sectional plan of the seat-attaohment or adjustable bed-plates of the machine.

Figure 5 is a vertical section of the parts shown in fig. 4. l

S is the carriage-seat, to the top of which the bed-plate A is to be aliix'ed by means of screws,-when this machine is to be used. Immediately above the bed-plate-A and resting on it is another similar plate or carriage A1, and above this latter plate again another, A2. A central set-screw, a, passes vertically through the whole three of the plates, and when the whole of these plates have been properly placed they will be held in position by means of the thumb-nut alscrewed down tightly to the topmost plate A2.4 The perforation through the plate Al for the bolt a is such as to confine thesaid bolt to a central position with reference tothe plane of the said plate, while a slot out transversely in the'plate A permits the said bolt a to have a longitudinal motion (with reference to the vehicle) therein, and a similar longitudinal slot cut in the plate A2 for the, said bolta permits the said plate Af to have a transverse motion (with reference to thevehicle.) There are two screws, B B1, operated by cranks b 61, the said screws being attached by means of the vswivel-heads bz'tothe plate A, and by means of swivel-nuts 113 to plate A. This arrangement of the screws-B B1 and the bolts a permits one or both ends of ithe'plate A1 to be drawn forward or shoved back, by 'simply turning the said screws, or either of them, in the desired direction, and the plate A1 may in this manner be placed squarely across the vehicle, and as far' forward or backward as may be desired, and as will be indicated by the plummets hereinafter described. .The plate Az is fitted on to the plate A1, with two interveningways or tracks a2, which serve to keep the edges of the two pieces in the same vertical planes, and the screw C, having its headc fastened to the plate Aland its nut to the plate A2, may be used to move the said plate A1 to one side of the-vehicle or the other, as maybe required, and as will be indicated by the before-mentioned plummets. As the ways or tracks a2 keep-the two plates Al A2 together laterally, it follows that the longitudinal adjustment by means of the screws B :B1 will-extend to both plates, but the transverse-adjustnient by means of the screw C will only extend to the topmost plate A2. On the outer ends of this plate are erectedftwo short posts I), and to the upper ends of these posts are attached two other longer ones, D1, by means of the knucklejoint d.v To the top ends of the postsfl)l are xed two segmental beams E, on top of, which the hoops or bows F are placed, preparatory to securing their lower ends to the vehicle. There are two adjusting-arms D2 securely fixed tothe ends of the plate A2, and extending upwardoutside of and contiguous to the posts l) and a short distance above the joint In their upper Vends are segmental slots d1, through which bolts fixed to posts l)l pass, the said bolts being provided with set-nuts or thumb-nuts d, for tightening the said screws at any position required. The top ends oi lthe posts D1 have ay can? 2 pendnlous motion, fore and aftabout the point or pivot d, and when the proper position for the beams is obtained the set-screws 0l2 will `be tightened up ou the arms D2, and the whole apparatus will be` thus adjusted in this respect. The beams E have a cross-beam, El, between them,vto which they are firmly fixed, and a beam, D3, is likewise placed between the top ends of the posts D1. A screw, Ez., acting on the beam D3 as a. fulcrum, and against the lbeam El as a weight, may be used to raise or lower the two beams E, as may be desired, and when the proper adjustment of the said beams (vertically) is obtained, the set-screws ewill serve to hold them in place. A cross-bar, E3, is to be laid across the tops of the two beams E, outside of which beams the ends of the said bar will extend some distance,v say one or two feet, (more or less,) and where the said ends will be provided with plumb lines el, to the lower end of which plummets e2 are tobe attached. The bar E3 will be provided with some sortof studs or dowels for centring it on the beams E, and the plummets e2 will be arranged so as to fall on someixed portion of the carriage-seat, as, for instance, a corner, or the projecting arm g of the shifting rail G. The top -edgesof' the beams E will havemetallic rails e4 secured to them, and at short intervals onthese .rails there will be slidinfr clam s e5, which ma be ad`usted to an osition on the said rails and then secured D P y .l y P in place by means of the set-screws e5.

The operation of the machine thus constructed will be as follows: The apparatus will be placed centrally on top of the seat S, and the bed-plate A. secured in that position by means of wood-screws. As the seat-top may be inclined more or less from the plane of the horizon in different vehicles, the first thing to be done after havingsecured the bed-plate to the seat, will be to adjust the posts D1 to a vertical position, by moving the tops of 'them forward orbackward, thus pendulating them about the point d, and, after the adjust-ment, the nuts d2 will be used to secure the posts in position. A plummet, H, attached to one of the posts D1, is used for indieating the vertical position. Afterthe vertical adjustment of the posts D1 shall have been completed, the trans* verse and longitudinal adjustment of the plates A1 and A2 will be completed by the manipulation of the screws B B1 and C, the plummets eg'being used to indicate the proper position for the top part ofthe apparatus during the adjustment. The next and last adjustment will he the vertical adjustment of the beams E by means of thescrews E2 and e. The hoops or bows Fwill then be laid on the tops of the beams E, the exterior faces of which should be graduated with inch marks and fractional parts of the inches, so as to readily place the said hoops at` regular intervals. After the hoops are thus disposed on the beams they will be secured thereon by means of the screw-clamps e5, until the-ir lower ends are securely xed tothe hinge joints of the shifting rail. After this is accomplished the whole apparatus may be removed, and the top will be left standing in a perfectly symmetrical form.

In order to render the central hoop or bow F equidistant (on both sides of the vehicle) from the back arm of the shifting bar Gr, I employ two pairs of sliding sticks, I I', which are arranged to envelop each other, and then secured by set-screws z", slots being made in each piece, I and I,ifor the said screws to slide in. y' These rods or sticks may then b'e set to any required length, before being'placcd on thecarriage, and then placed on the arms g and the joint-arms projecting from the central hoop, as clearly shown inffig. 3.

Having described my invention, what I claim isv I A 1. An adjustable framework, E El, when applied to a carriage body or rest in such a manner as to form a falsework or frame on which to place and adjust the carriage-bows or hoops, preparatory to fixing the said hoops on the vehicle, substantially as herein described and set forth.

2. I claim the bed-plate A Al A2, when combined and arranged substantially as herein set forth for the purpose of adjusting the machine laterally and longitudinally on the vehicle to which it is applied.

3. I claim the posts D, when combined with the pendulous posts Dl and the adjusting-arms D, as herein described and set forth. I

` 4. I claim the graduated beamsE, in combination with the beams E and D and the screws E2 and e, as and for the purpose set forth.

5. I claim the sliding stick I I', when constructed and employed as and for the purpose set forth.

ANTOINEl SOURSIN.

Witnesses:

M.- RANDOLPH, GEO. P. HERTHEL, Jr. 

